Non-skid attachment for motor-vehicles.



w. E. LOWN.

NON-SKID ATTACHMENT FOR IVIGTOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16. 1915.

l l 87;?52 Psiwnted June 20, 1916.

-To all whom it may concern STATES [PATENT oFFIon;

WILLIAM E. LOWN, or NEW roux, N. Y.

-c Be it'known that I, WILIJIAM E. Lower,

a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of New'York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Non-Skid Attachments for Motor-Vehicles, of which the followingisaspecification.

" of such vehicles when operating under ab-v normal conditions such as This invention hasrelation to an attach ment for motor vehicles intended to, reduce to a .minimuinfdegree liability of skidding upon slippery streets or road surfaces. I

In the carrying out of the invention I device comprising a standard movably mounted upon the rearaxle casing of the motor vehicle, preferably though not necessarily adjacent to the differential housing, said standard being equipped with a rota tive traction dfe vice-capable of being moved into and out o engagement with the'surface over which the vehicle travels, there being also provided in association .with the said traction device a peculiarly formed and mounted traction shoe designed primarily for use in checking the speed of the machine to which the attachment is applied and thereby to avoid-liability of collisions that would ordinarily not be prevented by the operation of the traction devioe first mentioned. the function of which i s primarily to prevent lateral skidding.

The invention also involves suitable 0perating,mechanism for the severaltraction means above referred to, as well as other details of construction the action of which will be apparent upon review of the following description andin connection with the accompanying drawings, in which---- Figure 1 1s a side view showing a motor vehicle equipped with the attachment of this invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged rear View of the attachment showing its-position 0n the axle housing ad acent to the dlflerential casing. Fig. 3 is a detail fragmentary section bringing out clearly the mounting of the tread members of the rotative traction I v Q I Referring to the drawings, -A denotes a device.

motor vehicle of any conventional type hav- Mounted upon the part Bin such a mancontemplate the provision of an attachment NON-SKID ATTACHMENT FOR MOTOR-lTEI-IICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11 20 1916 Application filed August 16, 1915'. Serial No. 45,812.

1 which is of a general V form, being preferably constructed from square tubing and supplied with the cross brace 2 connecting the sides thereof and also connected with a casting 3 in which the rotative device 4 is mounted. It will of course be obvious that the standard I may be ofany substantial construction braced by suitablemeans and theSame is pivotally supported on the easing B by means of clamps 5 receiving said casing at points uponvopposite sides of the differential housing G.

In view of the foregoing arrangement and structure it is obvious that the; attachment of this invention may be readily applied to machines at present in use as well as tomachines coming -direct from manufacturers.

The traction idevice 4 is rotative, as previously suggested; being mounted upon a shaft 6 supportedin suitable bearings upon the casting 3'. The device;- comprises a Wheel 7 composed of inner and outer rims 8 and 9 respectively, said rims being received between side plates secured to the rims 8 and 9 at' opposite sides of the-same.

Mounted'uponthe parts 8 and 9 are a plurality 'of'tread members l0'formed with I the stems 11 projecting through openings in the inner rim 8, the-tread members 10 op-- eratrng In?! like manner through openings in the rim 9.- Springs 12 are interposed between the members 10 and. the rim 8 and normally tend to project the members 10 a slight distance from the periphery of the wheel 7, said periphery being established by the outer surface of the rim 9. For the purpose f preventing displacement of the tread members 10 from the wheel 7 it is contemplated to use the split rings 13 which passthrough openings in the inner extrer'nities-'01 the members 11, said rings being adapted to abut with the inner surface; of the rim 8 previously referred to, the latter forming a stop limiting the extent to'which the tread members may be projected from the rim 9 under the action of the springs 12. While any suitable number of rows of the tread .cinembers 10 may be provided an nuhu-ly of thewvheel 7, four of these rows will ordinarily hesuiiicientmto give the re quired traction -to the device 4. when cl.

upon 'motor vehicles of the ty e known as roaidsters'and touring cars. owever, the,

nuniberof rows of the tread. members 10 may be increased .or decreased de' endi upon the size and "weight of the ve ole. to

which the attachment may be applied, all within the purview of the invention.

A chain or other connector 14 is attached at one end to an eye adjacent to the lower.

7 standard 1 in a position. in, whic the trac- 'tion device 4- is upraised from the surface with the over which the vehicle equip ing secured invention travels, said spring a to the standard at the lower end of the latter nector 14 t ate the vehicle equipped with the a and to any convenient portion of the body of the motor vehicle.

In the use of the invention for preventing skidding of the vehicle to which it is aplied it is obvious'that at an time when inability of skidding is crea during the driving of .the vehicle, the operator may depress the pedal 16 and through the cone standard 1 will be pulled downward until the traction device 4 is in operative engagement with the road surface. Such engagement owing to the contact of the relatively thin, tread members 10, will provide suflicient traction under the pressure exerted on the pedal 16 and transmit it to the standard 1, to efiectively avoid.

lateral skidding of the machine under all ordinary conditions It is .well known that'in the control of motor vehicles under abnormal conditions when traveling over slippery road surfaces the factor of the' momentum or impetus of the vehicle being suflicient to cause considerable travel of the same notwithstanding the application of the brakes in an efl'ort to stop, is one of importance and frequently involves considerable danger in relation to liability of collisions, etc. With a view to reducingthisparticular factor of danger to a minimum I contemplate the provision of means auxiliary to the traction device ,4 and associated therewith for obtaining a braking tractive resistance effect inte" 1- ment and the road surface. With this in view, as seen especially in Fig. 2, I contemplate employing the traction shoe 18 pivotally mounted at 19 on the lower portion of the casting 3. I The shoe 18 has a roughened traction surface 18' at its lower portion and its'upper portion is provided with a segmental uide member 20, the latter being provid with an arc-shaped slot re ceiving a guide pin 21 on the emai 3. A spring 22 norma ly holds. the member 18in a' position upraised from the road surface, and above the lowermostoperating rtions of the tread members 10. A suita le connector 23 is attached to a lever arm 24 pmjecting from the shoe 18 and leads to a hand lever 25 located within the convenient spring 22 of course under ordinary condi- 1 is cla is: 1. A non-skidding attachment for motor vehicles comprising a standard, a traction device mounted on said standard, and means for moving the standard to carry the" trac tion device into and out of operative enfiagement'with a road surface, said traction evice comprising a rotative member and a plurality of bodily movable tread members yieldmgly mounted upon said rotative member.

2. A non-skidding attachment for motor vehicles comprising a standard a traction device mounted on said standard. means for moving the standard to carry the traction device into and out of operativ'eengement with a road surface, said traction evice comprising a wheel com Minner and outer rims, and a plura ity of tread members yieldably mounted upon said rims.

3. A non-skidding attachment for motor vehicles comprising a standard a traction device mounted on said standar means for movin the standard to carry the traction device into and out of operative engagement with a road surface,. said traction device comprising a wheel composed of inner and outer rims, a plurality of tread members mounted upon said rims each tread member comprising a stem passing through one of the rims aforesaid, and {spring bearing against the last mentioned rim and cofiperating to yieldably hold the tread member in a projected position.

4. A non-skidding attachment for motor vehicles comprising a standard, a traction device mounted on said standard means for movi'n the standard to carry t e traction device into and out of operative engagement with a road surface, said traction device comprising a rotative member composed of inner and outer rims and side plates inclosiu'g'the of the outer rim, and means on the inner ex-. tremities of the stems aforesaid to prevent displacement of the tread members.

reach of the operator of thevehicle. 5. A non-skid attachment for motor ve- I hicles comprising a standard, means for raising and lowering the standard, a traction device mounted on said standard and movable therewith into and out of engagement with the road surface, said-traction device comprising a plurality of tread members adapted to prevent lateral skidding of a vehicle equipped with the attachment, and a traction shoe movahly supportedby said standard and means to move the shoe into and out o engagement with the road surface.

6; A non-skidding attachment for motor vehicles comprising a supporting standard, a traction device mounted thereon and including a plurality of tread members engageable with a road surface to prevent lateral skidding oi s vehicle equipped with the attachment, a traction shoe mounted on said standard for movement independently of that of the standardand also engegeable With the road surface to create tractive resistance to prevent sliding of a vehicle equipped With the attachment, and means for o eratin the said traction device and traction shoe.

7. A non skidding attachment for motor vehicles comprising a supporting standard,

a traction device mounted thereon and eluding a plurality of: tread members en'- gageable with a road surface to prevent lat eral skidding of a vehicle equipped with the 8. A nonskidding attachment for motor vehicles comprising a supporting standard, a traction device mountedthereon and including a plurality of tread members engageable with a road surface to prevent lateral skidding of a vehicle equipped with the attachment, a traction shoe mounted on said standard and also engageable with the road surface to create tractiveresistanpe to prevent sliding of a vehicle equipped with the attachment, and means for operating the said traction device and traction shoe, the traction shoe comprising a guide member cooperative with the standard and a pivotal con nection intermediate said shoe and the standard I 9, A non-skidding attaclnnent for motor vehicles comprising a standard, a, traction device carried hv said standard and comprising a rotative member, tread members mounted upon said rotative member and adapted to engage arcade surface, means for raising. and lowering the standard and correspondingly moving the traction device in relation to the road surface, and auxiliary traction means carried by thestandard comprising a shoe pivoted to the standard, a lever arm projecting from saidshoe, means connected with the lever arm. for throwing the shoe into operative engagement with a lroad surface, a guide member projecting g from said shoe, guide means on the standard ,engaging said guide member, and a syring- "for normally holding the shoe inan noperative position.

' In testimony whereof l aiiix my signature.

WILLIAM n BLOWN. 

